


The Blood Spider

by Rain_cloudsx



Series: The Night Spider [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, MJ hates Tony Stark, Ned and MJ are Peters team, Orphan Peter Parker, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter built Karen and a proper suit himself, Peter is a mess, Peter is in foster care, Peter keeps murdering people, Selectively Mute Peter Parker, Shy Peter Parker, The avengers are after Peter, Vigilante Peter Parker, mj and ned are good friends, no the avengers aren’t going to save/adopt him any time soon, the gang steal supplies from the school 24/7
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29129253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rain_cloudsx/pseuds/Rain_cloudsx
Summary: Peter Parker, a selectively mute orphan from Queens, is a child prodigy with a secret: his 8th grade field trip resulted in a radioactive spider activating his dormant mutant genes. Now a freshman at MSST, Peter juggles life as a teenager with fighting crime at night, but what happens when Fury sends the Avengers after him?
Relationships: Peter Parker/Michele Jones, background Tony Stark/Pepper Potts
Series: The Night Spider [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137440
Comments: 10
Kudos: 75





	1. Prologue aka backstory dump

His parents had been agents, working for SHIELD as HYDRA spies. 

Peters was an accident. 

His parents had never wanted him, but if they chose to keep him, maybe they had loved him a little. If they’d loved him a lot, they wouldn’t have left him with his Uncle and Aunt and gone on the mission that killed them.

They said it was a plane crash - an accident.

Peter knew better.

He lived with Uncle Ben and Aunt May after that. Only a toddler, he didn’t understand what had happened, but was still a happy, bubbly little boy, always keen and curious about everything he could get his hands on or explore. He loved them more than anything in the world, but after Ben got shot at the store and May was diagnosed with cancer, Peter learned not to love the hard way.

A month before the school trip, May was gone. 

Peter found her motionless in her bed, clutching the bedside picture of her and Ben. The cancer had spread so much there hadn’t been any hope for her, but Peter was none of the wiser. She had always been keen on lying to “protect” him.

Peter only felt betrayed.

By the time his class was going to Oscorp, Peter barely muttered a word. 

The bullying from Flash had only grown and the foster home was already too busy and loud - it was easier to say nothing than be a burden to everyone around him. Everything was always too much. It helped to read, to keep studying - staying top of the class was giving him a purpose, something to do when he felt like doing nothing every day. Life felt...numb, and although his foster parents didn’t physically harm him, Peter felt lost and abandoned. The pain never seemed to end.

Then, Oscorp happened. 

Peter was born with dormant mutant genes. After wondering off and being bitten by a radioactive spider, they were activated, merging with the spiders venom to give him spider powers. 

The obvious side affects were superhuman strength, speed, durability and agility, as well as advanced senses. After a week of countless sensory overloads, Peter had worked out tips and tricks on calming his senses. His powers were insane, and Peter worried how he was going to keep them a secret. His best friend Ned was catching on that something was going on, so one day after school, he sat him down and explained everything. After Ned screamed like a fan girl for nearly an hour, they decided to test out everything he could do, realising that Peter also had wall climbing, web shooting and fast self healing abilities. 

Ned promised he’d keep Peters powers a secret as long as when he became a super hero, he could be the guy in a chair. Peter wasn’t sure about the super hero part, but still agreed none the less.

Summer before High School meant there was lots of time to mess around with his powers. Both boys had gotten into their dream school, Midtown School for Science and Technology, and whilst spending the summer studying, rewatching Star Wars and building Lego’s, they decided it was time to put Peters powers into action.

With a large family of foster children to look after, it was easy for Peters new “parents” to forget about him. Being the quiet teen he was, it was easy to slip in and out the house, which meant he and Ned could put their plan into motion without making anyone suspicious.

Peter became the vigilante Spider-Man, stopping burglary’s and saving people from fires, but after a while, he wanted to do more. With the help of Ned and his AI, Karen, they found drug lords and runaway criminals, and he killed them in alleyways, shoving the thugs into trashcans or dumping them in the sewers.

Later on, as his technology advanced and the fights increased, MJ, a fellow member of the Academic Decathlon club, joined Peter’s team of vigilantes in defending New York. 

Everything was going great, until the head of SHIELD wanted to get involved. 

Like Peter would team up with the man responsible for killing his parents.

Spider Man wasn’t going down without a fight.

...

SHIELD had been dealing with a supernatural vigilante for a while now. Most people had mixed opinions on the “Spider Man”, but with his victims bodies stacking up, Fury wanted the lunatic out of the picture. The only problem was that the man had never spoken a word in public and no one knew what he was capable of, so he decided to send the Avengers after him.

He only hoped they’d be enough to stop the menace in his tracks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Peter killing people like it’s nothing. That’s half the plot of this whole fic btw. I don’t know how violent I’ve wrote this because I don’t normally write fight scenes, but...I describe Peter killing people so...
> 
> To explain Peter’s mutism: He’ll only talk to MJ, Ned and Karen, but is usually really quiet and reserved when talking. He will reply to teachers or his foster family, but only in short sentences. As Spider Man, he never speaks and refuses to talk to people he doesn’t know on a daily basis. Most of this is due to his trauma as an orphan, but also because of trust issues and social anxiety. Most the time Peter chooses not to speak, but others it’s because he physically can’t (like a mental block/ caused by anxiety).
> 
> Another thing: The Avengers aren’t going to find out who Peter is and “adopt” him. He’s too clever and powerful to hand himself over to them that easily. If Peter is found out to be Spider Man, it will be on his own accord and not Tony working it out.
> 
> With that all done, I hope you like this chapter. Feel free to drop me a comment.  
> \- Freya

Peter loved the rush he felt when he patrolled the city. The air zipped past in a swooshing sound as he swung through the rooftops, the buildings like a toy kingdom beneath his feet. His senses were always milder up high - the bright street lights and grinding of exhausts as the traffic zoomed past were squashed like flies as he flew past the commotion, his body so quick it was like how the outside world blurred from inside a racing car. 

It was another night of bliss up in the twinkling sky. There was no one on the list, which meant Peter didn’t have to plan a killing and he could do whatever he pleased. He could swing all night if he wanted to, or he could patrol the city floor in hopes of catching more robbers in action and showing them no mercy. Why take them in if they could do it again? It was easier to kill in the moment as it saved the hassle of having to fight the same criminals again.

Peter bit his lip, his spider sense starting to tingle. “Karen?” He asked, his voice activating the AI he built into his suit. 

“Go straight down and take a right. A man’s strangling a young woman the street behind a nightclub.” 

“On it.” Peter told her, activating his web wings and gliding to the ground. He ran down the alleyway, using his webs to pull the man away from the woman. He stumbled back, falling onto the concrete path.

“Spider Man!” The woman gasped, taking a step back and touching her burning neck. Harsh red masks littered her delicate pail skin like a dirty thing.

Peter looked at her and nodded, before paying his attention to the man again. He was standing up, getting himself in a fighting pose. Peter sighed, and shot an electric web at him, which gave the man a spasm, before he fell motionless to the floor. The electric shock would only have him out for a couple of hours, but the woman was gone by the time he walked up to the dead body. Grinning, Peter stepped on his neck, the bones cracking underneath his foot. He bent down, gripping the man by his coat hood and threw him in one of the trash cans. 

“I have identified the man as Thomas Flatly, age 25. Last year, he was in prison for two days due to drunken violence.” Karen reported. “Would you like to hear more?”

“No Karen. Thank you, though. Please, add his name to the body list.” He murmured. Peter yawned, stretching his arms, before shooting a web across the top of a building and catapulting himself back into the sky. 

It was getting late and he had Decathlon practise before school. It was time to go to bed. 

Or not.

Peter felt his spider sense explode, so he launched himself on top of a rooftop, landing with a thump and turning around just in time to catch Hawkeyes arrow. 

The Avengers. 

This was the third time he’d been targeted in the city. The first time, Iron Man had approached him patrolling and tried to convince him to join him back at the tower. The second attempt of catching him ended with him fighting a couple of the Avengers and managing to escape with only a dislocated shoulder. 

“What the-“ Hawkeye began, but he cut himself off as he dodged Peter’s webs. 

His spider sense warned him there was someone behind him, so he ducked, missing Captain America’s shield completely. 

It was an ambush - he had to get out of there.

Peter sprinted off the roof and jumped, throwing a web far out in front of him and swinging away, but he could still feel the Avengers behind him. Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain America were chasing him from the rooftops, while Iron Man was flying behind him. Okay, so Black Widow had replaced Falcon and the Winter Soldier, huh? A four person team wouldn’t be too hard to loose. He dodged Iron Man’s bullets, leaping to the ground and running through the alleyways. He could be faster on the ground.

The avengers dropped to the ground to follow him, running to keep up. Hawkeye shot another arrow, but Peter was able to catch it and snap it in half before it could electrocute him. Iron Man flew over his head, stopping him in his tracks. 

Peter was surrounded.

“That’s enough.” Iron Man told him, crossing his arms. “Come with us willingly and we will be mindful of your case.”

His spider sense burned as the other avengers walked closer behind him. If he turned around, he would be turning his back on Iron Man, but he felt weaker either way. Peter took a deep breath and waited in the silence as he thought of his escape routes.

“We won’t hurt you. Just...stay where you are.” Captain America spoke up. 

_Gogogogogogogogogogogo—_

Peter webbed Iron Wan to the wall, before jumping over captain America’s shield. Black Widow ran at him, but Peter dodged her attack, running up the wall, and doing a backflip. He kicked Hawkeye to the ground, before throwing some punches at Captain America and climbing up the wall again. 

He ran, jumping off the edge of the roof and swinging away. Too scared to look back, he continued to swing through the city skyline.

“Sir, it appears the avengers were able to tag you with a device. I’m unsure if it is only a tracking device or if it has a speaker. I will destroy it immediately.” Karen announced. “Tracking device has been detached and destroyed.”

Peter sighed, landing on a roof to check if the avengers were still following. “Thank you, Karen.” He told her, catching his breath. “Let’s go home.”

...

“What the hell happened to you?” Ned asked as they entered the school gates. Peter only shrugged in return. “It was the Avengers, wasn’t it? What’s their problem?”

“I...don’t know.” Peter whispered a reply. “But it’s to do with Fury. I think they want me to lock me up.” He fiddled with the cuffs of his dark red hoodie, the long sleeves hiding his skin that was still bruised from the fight. 

His best friend scoffed, shaking his head. “Pete, you’re fourteen. They can’t arrest kids.”

“I’m a mutant.” He replied. “A monster. I kill people Ned, I’m sick. They can do whatever they want with me.”

“You’re the furthest thing from sick.”A voice behind them spoke. MJ huffed, crossing her arms, and walked to join them. “You, Peter Benjamin Parker, are not a monster. What you are is a super genius by day, and super hero by night! Haven’t you seen how the rates of crime have dropped since you started to patrol Queens? Now, you protect the whole of New York, defending the innocent and stopping crime. The Avengers don’t care about civilians, they only cause harm, but you protect them, Pete. Those thugs deserve what comes to them.”

“She’s right, y’know. New York’s a better place thanks to you.”Ned added, giving him a pat on the back.

Peter took a deep breath and made a small smile. “You’re right. Of course.” He told his friends.

MJ shook her head. “Come on boys. At this rate, we’ll be late to practice.”

“Let’s go then.” Peter replied.

The trio walked up the steps to the large building, MJ ruffling her hand through Peter hair and Ned nudging him in the side with his elbow.

Over everything else, Ned and MJ were his best friends. They were the only people who had always stayed by him and the one ones Peter could trust - he was so grateful to have them by his side.

Always.

...

“Friday, replay the audio.”

 _“Sir, it appears the avengers were able to tag you with a device. I’m unsure if it is only a tracking device or if it has a speaker. I will destroy it immediately.”_

Tony groaned, resting his head on his hands. “And are you sure you can’t find a voice that matches the woman’s?” 

“No voice recognised, sir. The woman is most likely using a voice distorter, or is in fact an AI.”

“Great, so we have nothing?” Tony huffed.

“I’m afraid so, sir.”

...

After their last periods, the vigilante trio met in their favourite Chemistry Lab to hang out and discuss their future plans. MJ sat at a desk, scribbling down answers to a piece of homework, while Ned researched the latest news on his laptop and Peter experimented with his web formulas.

Although his body could make its own webs, Peter had created web shooters for stronger webbing. After months of being spider man, he had come up with a variety of different webs with different abilities, and was always improving and making more. 

“Hey Karen, any new sightings of the Avengers?” Ned asked the AI.

“Not that I can detect. After fighting Peter, the Avengers returned to the Tower at 2:31am and haven’t been sighted since.” She reported.

“That’s good. If they’re busy, we’ll be left alone to deal with the Foxes.” MJ murmured.

“The...foxes?” Ned asked.

MJ looked up from her work, clicking her pen. “The Foxes are a new gang spotted in Queens. A stupid name if you ask me, but the group’s made up of young adults with knives and drugs. It should be easy to get them off our streets, but we can’t have the Avengers trying to stop us.”

“I’ll look into it.” Ned told them, typing away. “Karen?”

“Already searching my resources on information. Sending files to you now, Mr Leeds.”

“Thanks.” He grinned.

“Is there any face recognition?” Peter asked. He turned off the bunsen burner and poured a fizzing liquid into a clear tube.

“All five members spotted in public have taken off their masks in front of CCTV. I have sent Mr Leeds their names, ages and addresses.” 

“Dude, Karen’s awesome!”

Peter smiled. “Of course she is. She’s my AI.”

“Always willing to help sir.”

“So, it’s settled - Spider Man’s next mission will be the demise of the Fox Gang.” MJ told them.

“Let’s do this.” 

...

Peter followed two of the members from the rooftops. He hid in the shadows, watching them meet up with another shady man and make a deal. It was definitely drugs.

Ned’s voice rang through his ear piece. “There’s no sight of the other members. ‘You going down?” He asked.

Peter gripped on the side of the building, using it to catapult him into the alleyway. He electrocuted the guy buying the drugs and threw webs at the gang members before they had time to run away. He sighed, kicking the body out of the way.

“Sp-spider man, h-hi.” The taller member, Alex, stuttered.

Peter shot weaker webs at his mouth, muting him for the moment and making the other member gasp. He stared him dead in the eyes and he squealed.

He was about to dispose of them, when his spider sense began to tingle and he turned around.

“Another member’s coming. David.” Ned explained.

Peter sighed, shaking his head as he gang member appeared from around the corner. 

“Stand down Spider Man.” The idiot declared. 

Peter didn’t move an inch, waiting for when David charged. He fell into his strap - Peter dodged easily, grabbing his knife out of his hand and throwing it, so it landed in the wall like an arrow. Pushing the idiot to the floor, Peter webbed his hands to the ground and stood on his chest. The man coughed harshly and Peter kicked him hard enough in the jaw that it began to bleed.

“Please, l-let us go!” 

Peter turned his attention to the guy on the wall. He walked over to David’s dagger, taking it out the wall and throwing it at the members chest.

Alex shook, looking at Peter with nothing but fear. He took a deep breath, walking over the two boys on the wall and taking the dagger out of the wound. Blood dripped out all over the mans chest, creating a pool of crimson on the concrete. Alex shivered as Peter used the knife to slice open his neck, cutting through several veins and breaking the windpipe.

Peter stood back, dropping the bloody knife and wiping his hands on his suit. He grabbed the two bodies on the floor, dragging them over to the others. “Hey Karen, take a picture for the others - show ‘em what they’re dealing with.” Peter commanded.

“On it, sir.” Karen replied. 

“Good job, Pete.”

“Thanks Ned. Any sign of the avengers?” He asked.

“Nope.”

Peter smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter chapter. Don’t question my posting schedule - it’ll be so random (a weird mix between daily and weekly because why not), but the next chapter should hopefully be up on the weekend. Part 1 of this au will be about 10-20 chapters long and then the second part will be when the Avengers know about Peter.
> 
> At some point, I really want to include a Stark field trip, and I HAVE to give MJ a suit, but I’m still planning that. I don’t know whether to give her a suit similar to Gwen’s or give her own super hero persona. She could have a suit like Black Widow or I could recycle an idea from this other fic (it’s a moth suit - MJ wasn’t in it, but I love the design and I want to include it in something in the future so you never know). Also STAY TUNED for this side plot thingy, where Peter doesn’t know HALF of what the radioactive spider serum did to his body and has to go to Norman Osborn, who is the main villain of the fic and aaaaaa cannibalism, mind control, and insanity (don’t worry, Petey’s not eating anyone, Iron Dad will help him). 
> 
> And with that random rant of bullshit and spoilers, enjoy the next chapter!!!

“This guy’s insane!” Clint gasped. He was sitting at the kitchen island, scrolling through the news on his phone - pictures of Spider Man’s latest victims were everywhere, all covered in webs and leaking tons of blood. 

Nat sighed, leaning back on the door frame. “He must have a team - someone or something telling him where the guys are.”

“I think he’s working on his own.”Rhodey spoke up. “Finding and killing targets isn’t difficult. You have to be smart to create a suit like that and with the powers...”

“Spider Man’s a Psycho, but he’s far from dumb. He clearly knows what he’s doing.” Nat told them. “Maybe he’s another Deadpool.”

“Oh, god, no.”Tony grunted. “I’m not dealing with that again. We need to find out the identity of Spider Man and fast.”

...

“Hey Pete, want to have a Star Wars marathon tonight?” Ned asked, leaning over his canteen tray and tapping the boy on the shoulder.

Peter looked up from his book and nodded, biting his lip and giving a small smile. “Sure. We deserve it.” 

“Mind if I invite myself?” MJ asked, before biting into her apple. She was sitting on the table, feet resting on the chair beside Peter, as she balanced a maths textbook on her knees.

“Why wouldn’t you come?” Peter asked, brows frowning.

She shrugged. “Didn’t know if you’d be doing boy stuff.” 

“Sorry to interrupt, but I have detected a bank robbery fifteen minutes away from your current location. Would you like to know more?” Karen asked, the AI’s voice coming out of Peter’s phone. 

“Tell us Karen.” MJ told her.

“Three men in their early twenties entered the building two minutes ago. They’re holding everyone inside captive with guns. If you leave immediately, you should be able to swing over in less than five minutes.”

“We’ll cover for you.” Ned told him.

Peter nodded, quickly packing up his bag. 

“Good luck.” MJ told him.

“See you later.” Peter replied, swinging his bag over his shoulder and walking out the canteen.

He ran through the empty corridor, pushing open the fire door and running to the back of the school. Hiding in the bushes, he quickly changed, before swinging over the wall and into the street. He ran across the path, building enough momentum to start using his webs to swing himself towards the building. 

He landed on the road with a thump, running to the bank and bursting open the doors. A thug had the owners at gunpoint, while one searched for cash and other guarded a group of frightened customers huddled in the corner of the room.

“Spider Man?” The thug frowned, brows furrowing, as he pointed his gun in Peter’s direction.

“Hey Spider, aren’t you going to say anything?” He second thug sneered.

Peter sighed, webbing the gun and pulling it back into his own hands.

“Hey!” The man grunted.

All three men charged at him, but he dodged their pathetic punches. Throwing a web onto the ceiling, Peter jumped up and shot the criminals in the heads, before swiftly landing back onto the ground. 

The civilians stared at him, their eyes widening in shock and terror. All three robbers fell motionless to the ground, their brains spilling everywhere. Even Peter felt uneasy with the sight.

He had to leave.

Peter ran out of the building, trying to calm his panicked breaths as he flung his webs and began to swing back to the school. 

He landed over the wall, getting changed, and meeting MJ by the fire door.

“You were quick.” She told him. “What’s...what’s wrong?”

Peter hadn’t felt the water overflowing the corners of his eyes. Tears poured down his face and he flung himself into a hug with his friend.

“H-hey, it’s alright, are you hurt?”MJ asked him, embracing the hug and stroking her hand through his hair.

“I-I, th-the—“He tried.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s okay, you’re okay.” She cooed. “You don’t have to explain. You’re safe now, safe with me, it’s going to be alright.”

But Peter didn’t know if it was.

... 

“Spider man explodes brains in terrific bank robbery” Rhodey read aloud, shocking himself with the words that came out of his mouth. He frowned as he continued to read the article. 

“Fuck.” Tony cursed.

...

Peter Parker was at a low. He knew what he was doing was right, that he was saving lives and protecting his people, but at the same time he was a murderer, a killer, a monster...he couldn’t live with that. Yet, the criminals he killed deserved it, so why was he upset? He thought about having a break from Spider Man, but then who would stop the crime in Queens and how would his friends react? They’d support him, of course they would, but they’d be disappointed. Peter didn’t want to be a disappointment. Not again.

He sighed, swinging through the skyline. Friday night patrols were always better because you didn’t have to worry about school the next day and could stay up for hours just...thinking. He enjoyed the rush of fresh air filling his lungs and threw another web out into the distance. His Spider sense had been on edge the whole night and Peter wondered if he’d been followed. His eyes scattered around the skyline - there were no signs of the Avengers. Maybe, it was all because he was still on edge. If one thing was for sure, he needed to fix whatever was wrong with him before he got him and his friends hurt.

Leaping onto a rooftop, Peter landed softly and walked to the centre of the flat surface. The view was amazing - the city below was his kingdom of lights and the stars glimmered in the sky like a child’s glitter painting. Beautiful sights like that would always remind him why he was there. 

Spider Man was always going to protect the city.

Peter promised.

“Hey Karen, anything new for me?” He asked the AI. 

“I have detected one of the drug dealers on my list. He’s waiting in an alley for his next client. Take the third street down, then go left.”

“Perfect.” He bent down, getting into a sprinting start, before running and using the momentum to start his first swing. His webs caught the wall of another building and he swung into the skyline. Getting druggies off the streets was always a fulfilling part of his job. If the drugs were destroyed, teens wouldn’t have overdoses. He was saving young lives. He used his web wings to glide to the floor and walked down the alleyways, until he found his destination.

The dealer had his eyes glued to his phone, his body leaning against a brick wall. 

Well, this would be easy. 

Peter flung a electric web at him and the man looked up in fright as he was shocked and fell to the floor like jelly. The electric webs were starting to become his favourite to use if he wanted to get a job done quickly. He walked up to the body, grabbing the man by the coat hood, and decided to use the body as target practice, throwing some hard punches at the unconscious man, before throwing him at the wall. His head hit it hard, the sound of broken bones ringing in Peter’s ears. The back, leaking with blood, had left a red mark of impact on the wall. 

Peter swung away.

“Sir, it appears Iron Man has left Avengers Tower.” Karen announced.

“Shit.” He cursed to himself. “Let’s go home before he catches us.” Peter swung across the skyline, before activating his web wings and gliding down onto a low rooftop. He climbed down the wall, pushing open one of the windows and sliding inside. 

Not wanting to wake any of the other boys up, Peter carefully sneaked to his bed. Quickly undressing, he threw on a baggy grey t-shirt and black cotton shorts, before climbing into bed and diving under the itchy covers. 

He was out like a light.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter, I realised how tiny the last one was. It was, what, 3 scenes? This one is longer (yay) and dives into more of Peter’s life at home and school. I hate writing the scenes with Tony in because I can’t seem to get his dialogue right in this fic, but I’ll work on it. Fingers crossed!
> 
> I’ve got three different versions of how I want to end this fic, and I’m trying to work out which one I want to use, before I dive into writing the middle parts leading up to the last two chapters. The next chapter should be up Monday or Tuesday.

Peter sighed, scavenging the empty counters and cupboards in hopes of finding anything to eat. Erin, the oldest out of all the kids, sat at the table, watching him carefully with her suspicious eyes. “You know, I could use all the help I can get with the littluns, but you’re never around.” She told him. He snuck a crisps packet into his bag and grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl. Erin sighed. “You and those snacks. Just ask for more helpings at diner - you eat barely anything then. No one’s going to hurt you for asking.”

“I know, but...the little ones, they need it.” He told her.

Erin shook her head. “So do you, quiet boy, and where are you going now?”

“Neds.”

“All weekend?”

“Mmhmm.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course you are.” She smiled. “Behave yourself.”

“I will.” He told her, putting his bag over his shoulder. Erin gave him a nudge when he left the room. Peter unlocked the door and headed out of the home.

He liked Erin. The street smart girl was calm and caring ; always looking out for the others. There was eight of them in total, five girls, three boys, aged between 5 and 16, and when their “parents” disappeared to do whatever they pleased, Erin was always left to look after them. Peter was the third eldest, but as he constantly snuck out, he never felt like one of the family. They’d never be his family, not remotely close, but Peter did feel guilty for not helping the youngsters.

Peter walked across the street and down the path towards The Leeds house. He always felt more comfortable there, the house becoming a second home after everything with Aunt May, so spending several days in a row there was like second nature to him. Mr and Mrs Leeds never minded, but as they weren’t always home, they didn’t know how many times Peter had really stayed over, which was at least triple as many times as they’d actually agreed to.

He passed the corner, finding Ned’s street and walking down the hill to his house. It looked like all the others in the perfect little neighbourhood - well, as perfect as queens could be - and he stepped up to the door, giving it a small tap.

Mrs Leeds greeted him, opening the door. “Ah, hello Peter, how are you?” She asked.

“Good, thank you.” He replied, stepping inside the house and slipping off his trainers. He ran up the stairs, turning the corner and entering Ned’s room. 

He was sitting at his desk, eyes glued to watching memes on his computer screen. Hearing Peter creak open the door, spun around his chair. “Hey Pete.” Ned smiled. “How was patrol?”

“Good.” He replied, sitting down on his friends bed and rummaging through his bag. “Can we do homework? I need to finish my maths and physics.”

“Sure, let me get out mine. I haven’t started the biology essay and it’s freaking me out, man...”

...

Peter didn’t miss his family per say, but his life felt like it had empty spaces, once filled with a bright glow, then blurring, then disappearing completely and leaving nothing in its place. Watching the Leeds interact with each other, Peter was never jealous, but his heart felt...numb. His foster family was never capable of filling the space, nor were his friends, and Peter wondered if it would ever be filled again. He couldn’t remember a time he knew what love was and the only touches he received were of violence. Sure MJ and Ned, gave him gentle nudges and gestures, but if he wanted a hug, he had to ask for one, and he wasn’t really good at asking. Sometimes, he’d have urges to cuddle up and snuggle with someone, but no one was ever there. There was never that person to wrap him up in their arms and reassure him everything was going to be alright.

Maybe he didn’t deserve it, or maybe...it was because he didn’t need it. 

The world had taught Peter an important lesson - love was weak. He didn’t need a family to survive in the world. They’d never cared or protected him - why should he waste his energy mourning and loving them when they’d never loved him back? He had realised how stupid love was, and he was glad to not be oblivious to how cruel the world really was.

Everything in life happened for a reason. His trauma, the pain, the heartbreak, the torture - it made him stronger. If he was stronger, he could protect other children, ones that were just like him when he was young, but the only difference would be that they wouldn’t have to go through the suffering of loosing everything because he’d be there to make sure it never happened. 

As Peter Parker, he was useless, nothing, another kid in the system, another student at school, but as Spider Man...he could do anything. ‘The silent assassin’ was his aesthetic - he could kill a criminal in less than ten seconds, but he wasn’t a murderer - he was a hero. Sure, not everyone saw that, but they didn’t know what these people did. Ever drug dealers, even small-scale robbers - they could still kill, they were still dangerous, and getting them off the street was a good thing. It only took a thug at the corner store to take his Uncle life, to rip their lives apart like the monster under a toddlers bed, and he wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy. Yes, he wouldn’t even want Eugene fucking Thompson to watch his bleeding uncle die in his arms. Peter was making a difference and he was proud of himself for doing so.

He didn’t need a family to change the world, and he wouldn’t want one anyway. It would only mean having more people to lose.

...

Peter spent Monday night on the skyline, legs hanging off the edge of a skyscraper as he took in his favourite views. He wanted to take off his mask, let the wind blow through his hair and tickle his face, but he couldn’t risk it. Not when he was still so young. He had to be careful. 

All good things come to an end, and when Peter felt his spider sense tingling, he knew it was the avengers coming to pay him another visit. He didn’t understand why he was so important, but knowing SHIELD had spotted him as a potential threat, only made him more confident that he was doing a good job in protecting the city. 

Peter sighed, standing up as he sensed Iron Man land behind him. The wind from his boosters sent waves of cold and fear through his body, but he chose to ignore it. 

“You’ve been busy.” Iron Man stated, crossing his arms.

He rolled his eyes. What now? It wasn’t like he was going to mutter a word, let alone belt out his whole life story in song like a dramatic musical about some poor defenceless orphan because that wasn’t his story. Peter was stronger than that. 

“What do you get from this? What’s the point? Is killing fun for you?”

 _Is killing fun?_

The thrill of killing was only fun because of the satisfaction he felt for doing a good job, right? He wasn’t a monster. Not like them.

No, killing wasn’t fun, but it was his job. He had to kill. He was a hero. 

“When you never talk, it doesn’t give me anything. It’s really hard to read you in that suit. If you came back to the tower, maybe we could discuss this better?”

Peter shook his head and crossed his arms. Was Stark having a laugh? Fury wanted him dead, or locked up, maybe tortured, or worse. No one knew how young he really was, but that didn’t change his blood and powers. They would still view him as a dangerous beast they had to control, and Peter hated to think what they could do to him. They were the real monsters - not him.

Iron Man sighed. “This is childish. You’re childish!” He huffed.

 _You’re not wrong - I am a child. I’m fourteen! A fourteen year old boy is beating the worlds mightiest heroes like they’re nothing._

“So, you’re just going to stand there, ‘make me the bad guy, the one to start the fight, huh? I gave you the easy way out, I tried to start a conversation, but I guess you’ve chosen the hard way.”

Peter dodged his attack, flying over Iron Man to land on the other side of the rooftop. At least with this fight, he could test out one of his new experiments. Peter threw his web ninja-stars so quickly at Stark that none of them missed. They barely dented his armour, but they sure did push him back a bit with their impact. He dodged the older mans energy balls, before leaping in the air and shooting sticky webs at him. They were a new mix, with longer lasting webs and a stickier coating, and Iron Man lost movement in his arms. 

He walked up to the hero, whom was still trying to fight the webs, and threw a large kick at his stomach, sending Stark catapulting off the edge of the skyscraper. 

Even though Peter knew he’d survive the fall and use his thrusters, he was glad that Iron Man didn’t fly back up to fight him. 

For now, the fight was over. Iron Man would be back, but that was future Spider Man’s problem. 

“Hey Karen, is there any crimes I can stop on the way home?”

...

“Spider Man, he...he doesn’t use artificial super strength. I felt that kick through my armour and...he’s as strong as Capsule, maybe even stronger. If we all fought without our suits, I bet he could still beat the avengers easily.” Tony told her. He sat at his desk in the lab, holding an ice pack to his bruised ribs.

Pepper sighed. “What are you going to do?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.” He told her, genuinely. “I really don’t.”

“Did I just hear Tony Stark giving up?” 

“I’m not giving up! I just don’t know how to handle anything if the guy won’t even say a word! We know nothing about him!”

“Find out about him, then.”

“That’s the point, Peps, he doesn’t tell you anything - there’s no clues.”

“Watch him.”

“You want me to spy on Spider Man?”

“Yes.” Pepper replied, shaking her head and crossing her arms. “It can’t be too hard. Work out his patrolling routine, see where he travels everyday, if you wait for him to change, you may be able to work out his identity. You’re super heroes - don’t let some silent psychopath get away with what he’s done.”

Tony paused for a second. “Maybe you’re right.” He told her.

She smiled. “I’m always right.” Pepper replied. 

“Not always.” He protested.

“Always.” She sung.

...

Peter walked up the steps to his school, holding the strap on his bag tightly, as he tried to avoid the crowds. He loved to feel invisible, to not have anyone staring at him or knowing who he was. Maybe that was why he loved being Spider Man so much - under a mask, no one could judge him or feel guilty for things they couldn’t control. Being at school only made him nervous. His ears were continuously overloaded with noise, and the large waves of students always made him feel like he was outnumbered in a fight to the death. Peter found his locker, unlocking the door and grabbing the textbooks inside. 

“Hey, Penis Parker!” Flash mocked, walking up to him. 

He desperately wanted to shove his face into a locker and watch the blood drip down his head, but he knew he couldn’t reveal his powers to Flash. If he knew what he was capable of, then everyone would find out and they would send him to a lab to be experimented on like a beast. Peter tried not to think about it, but the truth was that he was frightened shitless people would find out about him and Spider Man.

“Leave him alone Eugene.”MJ huffed, walking up to the two boys. “Come on, Pete, Ned’s waiting for us at tutor.” She grabbed his wrist, pulling him away before Flash couldn’t do any harm, and they speed-walked to Lab5. Ned was sitting on the back row, flicking through some pages on his phone, as they entered the classroom and joined him. 

“Hey dudes, what’s up?” Ned asked as his friends sat down beside him.

Peter shrugged. “Nothing much.” MJ told him. “You alright?”

“No! We’ve got the biology assignment due today, and I’ve completely failed!”

“I thought you went over it with Peter?” 

“I did, but you know how useless I am at writing essays! Biology’s not my thing, man.”

The door swung open, revealing their professor entering the room with a pile of books. He dropped them on the front row, before retreating behind his own desk and starting the register. 

In the second row to the front, a brunette sat brushing her hair, and although Peter had no memories of her or her name, he couldn’t stop watching her. She must have cut herself on her notepad because small droplets of blood were oozing out of a paper cut on her thumb. 

Only Peter had noticed.

The smell of blood was too familiar. After so many murders, he could recognise blood from miles away, but this was different. His classmates tiny drops of blood were enough to put on him on edge, and he had to squeeze the sides of his stool to stop himself going after her. What was he, a vampire? How could he kill so many people, but lose control over a stupid paper cut? Peter sighed, trying to calm his breathing and not create a scene.

“You okay?” MJ whispered. He nodded, but she didn’t look convinced. “What’s wrong?” She asked, resting her hand on his chuckles. The touch panicked the small hairs, but his hand seemed to relax under the soft pressure of hers. She rubbed his knuckles, letting the tension out of Peter hand. He let go of the stool, holding her hand with his fingers, and kicked her under the table. MJ smiled, playing footsie back. The way she looked at him...no, not going to happen. There was no way Michele Jones had a crush on Peter Parker. They were friends, best friends, team mates, siblings...not lovers. Peter refused to get his heart broken again. MJ didn’t love him, he didn’t love her- they were friends...

...right?

...

Peter wasn’t in his suit when it happened. He’d stopped at the corner store, picking up a couple of snacks to help with his metabolism, when he saw a man trying to rape a little girl. She was a couple of years younger than him, with soft blonde hair and tear filled blue eyes. The girl screamed for help, trying to kick the man off her, but he was too strong. 

Peter ran up to the scene, pulling the man off her. He grunted, screaming curses as Peter as he punched, but he dodged all his attacks and kicked him in the balls.

Shoving, the girl was still glued in the wall in fear and Peter frowned, worried for the kid. “Run.” He murmured to her, before dodging another attack from the aggravated man. He tried to pin him to the ground, but there was only so much he could do without a suit. The man was able to cover him in bruises, but Peter was knocked him out on the concrete. His blood poured from a cut on his forehead and a rip in his lip. It smelt...good. Peter wondered what it would taste like, and immediately cursed the thought, sending it far down into his mind. It was weird to think such a thing and Peter didn’t want to turn into some blood thirsty psychopath. He sighed, not bothering to stop his foot crushing the mans neck, and walked away from the body.

Peter found a hiding spot behind some trash cans and quickly slipped into his suit. Putting on his bag, he stood up and climbed the wall. He stood on top of the roof, walking to the edge and jumping across the next one. He hoped the air would clear his mind of the strange thoughts, and took his first swing, but as he swung through the city, he felt like he was being watched. He landed on other roof, eyes darting all around him. He couldn’t see anyone, but his spider sense was going crazy. Peter hated the feeling and it sent so much fear to his throat that he felt like he was going to throw up. He realised he couldn’t lead whatever was watching him back to the foster home, so swung a couple of circles around the city, before making his way back to Queens.

He hoped that he was wrong, that his spider sense was just glitching after the whole blood incident, but Peter couldn’t take any chances. Not with powers like his. Not with the responsibility he had to protect the city. He couldn’t risk bringing criminals or the Avengers back to the foster home. What if they hurt the kids as a punishment? They’d done nothing wrong and Peter couldn’t bare to put that pain on them. That was why no one could know he was Spider Man. 

He had to protect them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not going to lie - this is a mess, and that’s saying something because my writing is always a mess. I’m posting this at 11:30pm and I rewrote the chapter today. I had writers block, but it needed to be done. I’d wrote half the fic last week, but I decided to change the POV to MJ, so I could stick in her backstory. There’s a lot of crazy in this chapter, but it’s finally setting up for the ending, so I’m a little excited.
> 
> Sorry if things don’t make sense or I have spelling errors - I haven’t checked this properly.

MJ said goodbye to her teammates, waiting for them to leave, before shoving her own books into her black rucksack and throwing it over her shoulder. “You okay Petey?” She asked her friend. 

The brunette was the only other person left in the library - he leant back on the side of the table, glancing nervously in her direction. “Are you busy?” He asked her. 

“No...”MJ replied, blinking. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she tried to think of anything special going on in their lives, but there was nothing important on that day and they hadn’t planned any missions. “Why?”

A small smile appeared on his face. “I want to show you something.” He told her.

“Lead the way.” She smiled back and walked up to him. They passed the towering shelves, leaving the library and walking down the corridor. 

“No questions, okay?” He told her, as they passed the towering lines of lockers following the wall.

“Rude.” She huffed teasingly, nudging him in the hip and crossing her arms. “Not even one?”

He shook his head, playfully, and they left through the front doors, walking down the stairs and heading out the tall gates. She followed him in silence as they crossed the road, zig-zagging through the city to a place MJ was yet to recognise. Rush hour traffic continued to use the busy roads, but the only pedestrians the duo shared their paths with were some scruffy looking Pigeons. Suddenly, Peter stopped using the main paths and guided them to the back of an apartment building.

“I don’t understand.” MJ frowned, turning to face him. 

Peter, who had stopped at a fire exit, smiled, pointing to a large metal ladder that reached all the way up to the roof. 

“You can’t be serious.” MJ protested, gasping at him.

Peter grinned cheekily to himself and swung open the little rusty gate blocking the back of the building. “Ladies first?” He asked her. 

MJ took a deep breath, and walked towards the ladder. Grabbing a cold bar, she stood on the first ledge and began to pull herself up. Peter followed behind her. The teen started laughing as her friend chased her up to the sky, her caramel curls blowing in the wind and tickling her face as she battled the breeze. Finally, MJ made it to the top and walked towards the edge, gasping in owe and excitement. “The views...amazing.” She exclaimed, looking down at the city below. “I’m so jealous - you’re so lucky to see this everyday.” 

Peter blushed roses on his cheeks. He smiled, and stood beside her, fiddling with his hands. “Well, we can come up here whenever you want. It can be your view now, too.”

She looked him in the eyes and smirked. “Are you asking me on a date Spider Boy?” He froze, his face turning a bright blotchy red, and she laughed. “Your face! Oh my gosh! Peter!”

“Do you want a date?” Peter blurted out, quickly becoming shocked of his words after it was too late to take them back. 

MJ didn’t answer in words - instead, she tangled her left fingers into his right hand and they immersed themselves in the sights and sounds of the skyline around them. 

It was her favourite moment in a long time. 

...

Michele Jones had a crush on Peter Parker. Who wouldn’t have a crush on him? The boy was perfect in every way! She’d never met someone as genuinely kind and caring and after meeting him in the Academic Decathlon club and prying him away from the grasp of Flash fucking Thompson, she’d promised herself to protect her classmate with her life. 

MJ wasn’t dumb, she’d known Leeds and Parker had been hiding something, but she’d never thought her crush would be the city’s Vigilante. Another reason Peter Parker was the best person she’d ever met - he was the only one to have a good heart. All he wanted to do was help people and he was! Peter was making a huge difference. How couldn’t you be proud of him? She definitely was. 

Before Peter and Ned, MJ had never surrounded herself with genuine, honest people. Always alone or with the wrong crowd, she’d experienced first hand the cruelty people were capable of. Most of her trust issues came from never having a strong family unit - her father had abused her mother and even though he’d been in jail for criminal activity for years, her mother was still a drunken neglectful mess. MJ had always looked after herself - everything she’d done in the past was for her survival. She didn’t regret anything. Guilt was a weakness - it made you fear yourself, and when you fear yourself - your values, your thoughts - it made you open and vulnerable for others to attack.

Michele understood why Peter could kill because she’d done it too. In this cruel, dangerous world, it was better to kill than be killed. People were savage - it was more wise to get rid of them when you had the chance. In the past, she’d been too scared, and when they’d sensed her fear, they’d attacked. She used to channel her fear into self defence, learning to fight dirty in the moment, but Peter would be better than her. He wasn’t going to let fear get to him - he killed before thugs could grab the upper hand. Peter was Spider Man - a hero - and she loved him for it.

...

“Do you know where Peter is?” Ned asked, meeting MJ at her locker. 

She shrugged. “I thought he was with you.” She told him. “I haven’t seen him today.”

“Nor have I.” He admitted.

She pushed her books into her bag, then slammed the navy door, locking it shut with a click. “Come on.” MJ told him and threw her bag over her shoulder. “We need to find him.”

The friends walked down the bright corridor, passing scattered classroom doors, inspirational quotes lining the cream-coloured walls and small groups of friends chatting away to each other as they made their way to their next period. It was always hard to know where Peter was. He was so quiet that he could easily hide in plain sight - finding him in a crowded setting was a nightmare. He was a Silent Assassin after all, but that wasn’t the only reason it could be impossible to find the brunette. Peter had never had a favourite place, in fact MJ wasn’t even sure if he felt safe anywhere in the world, so it wasn’t like you could always find him in one room. He could be anywhere in the school and you wouldn’t know until you found him. 

The good thing was that they didn’t need to search the whole school because he was in the corridor by the changing rooms. The bad thing was that he wasn’t alone - Peter was with Flash.

Something was wrong. 

Something was _very_ wrong. 

The asshole towered over him, whispering in a fast pace with a harsh, sharp tone. Peter didn’t look like he was breathing - his body was glued to the wall behind him and a strange mix of fear and angst was painted all over his fear. His eyes held a petrified expression and it took everything MJ had not to rip her teammate away from him.

“What the fuck!” Flash flinched back and turned around to watch a furious Michele Jones storm towards him. “Leave him alone!”

“Hey, calm down.”He told her, raising his hands in peace and slowly backing away. “I wasn’t going to hurt him.”

“That’s shit - go before you regret it.” She warned, letting out a huff and crunching her fingers into fists. “I don’t want to hear your lies and quite frankly, your presence annoys me like a plague. You’re a headache that only punches my brain out of my body when you enter a room. Fucking go already.”

“Okay, okay, I’m not the one with anger management issues, jeez.” He muttered, walking away backwards. “I’ll see you at practice.”

“I hope not.” She muttered to herself. “You okay, Pete?” She asked him. 

He looked at her and sighed, gulping and taking another deep breath. “Kind of. I just...when he... When Flash says all those things to me, when he bashes my family or makes fun of me and my situation, it takes everything I have not to reveal my powers and rip his head off, but it’s even harder not to let it affect me. Sometimes... sometimes it would be easier to believe him.” Peter explained, fiddling with his sleeves and he bit his lip to stop the teardrops growing even larger in his eyes. 

“Oh Petey.” She murmured, wrapping her arms around him. He melted into her hug, crying wet blotchy streams of angst onto her shoulder. 

“Don’t believe a word he said.” Ned told him, quietly, and walked up to his friends. He scratched the back of his head nervously at the situation. No one had seen Peter cry properly for a long time, but maybe everything had finally gotten too much for him. “You’re better than him. So much better.” He murmured gently.

Peter gripped onto her hoodie tighter and MJ played with the curls in his fluffy morning hair. “I-I know, I know, but it hurts.” He wept.

She rubbed his back and sighed. “I’m sorry.” She murmured to him. “I’m so sorry.”

...

The flames were so hot that they nearly burnt through his suit, but Peter was in and out the building with a flash - saving the civilians and dashing away before the authorities came to “investigate” the scene and find him “meddling” about. He was going to go home and check he hadn’t burnt his hands, when he stopped some men harassing a woman in a alley. Their bodies laid motionless in front of him and that strange feeling in his stomach was coming back again. The way their blood was oozing along the ground was satisfying his eyes and it started to make Peter’s mouth water. He panicked, trying to clear his head of thoughts and flinched back into the shadows of the night. He raced up the wall and jumped from rooftop to rooftop as his body took him back to Queens.

But something stopped him from going to the home. The force slowed his movements down and soon Peter was walking across slate tiles, taking in the cold air, and going downhill to a neighbourhood he couldn’t remember ever going to in his life!

Then, all Peter could feel was anger. Waves of fury about letting Flash walk all over him burnt its way through his body and that’s when he realised what was going on.

He couldn’t remember visiting that part of Queens because he’d never been there before. It was where Flash lived, and although Peter had never found out where his classmate lived, he didn’t have to know because he was subconsciously following the boys blood.

Somehow, this new information made Peter Parker grin and he let out a huge messed-up laugh as he threw another web and swung into the pitch black void. 

Peter snuck in through his bedroom window, dropping down onto his carpet with as quiet as a thump as possible. Flash’s room was spotless - he was a spoilt brat and you could see with his room that he had everything he ever wanted. Coils turned in Peter’s stomach and although the waves of built up emotional pain was overwhelming, he channeled it into physically strength and was ready to take his revenge.

The prey began to stir from his sleep. He sat up, stretching and yawning, before leaning over the side cabinet and turning on his lamp. 

Before he could let out a petrified squeal, Peter webbed his preys mouth and took a step towards the bed. The rooms new gentle glow caught his prey’s fear perfectly at every angle. Peter grinned behind his masked, crawling over the bed and kneeling in front of him. Breathing heavily on his preys face, Peter watched in excitement as he shivered beneath him. He laughed, taking off his mask and discarding it on the clean bedding. 

It would be more fun if the prey knew who his predator was. 

Peter lifted him carelessly by the neck, feeling his prey gulp as he pulled his body higher in the air. Curling his left fingers, his body began to shake, before the rush of confidence threw a punch at his preys chest. Peter punched again and again and again, until his prey was gasping for air and his knuckles were bleeding underneath his suit and staining his hard skin with crimson. Peter banged his preys head back onto his headboard and violently let go, dropping him onto the bed. 

The predator stood back to admire his work. Peter laughed - the fresh smell of his preys blood sparking fireworks in every part of his body. It took a while to snap out of it, but when he did, Peter was in tears.

What had he done? He was a monster, a criminal, a psychopath - he’d tried to kill Flash. This time he’d gone too far. This was serious.

Peter gasped, jumping off the bed. He grabbed his mask, gripping the fabric with careless shaky hands and pulling it onto his face. Then, he ran.

He couldn’t bring himself to look back.

...

“Fuck Peter, it’s three in the morning. What’s going on?” MJ asked, finally picking up the call on attempt four.

Peter tightened his clutch on his phone and sobbed into his covers. “I-I’ve d-done some-someth-thing r-r-really b-ba-bad.” He replied, not bothering to hide the tremble in his voice.

“Oh, oh Petey.” She murmured, her tone changing from a harsh grumbling sound to mimic sweet smooth honey. “Did something happen on your patrol? Did the avengers attack you?” She asked him, gently. 

“N-no.” Peter sniffed. “I nearly killed Flash!”

“What?” She chocked as a mix of surprise and confusion filled her thoughts. 

He took another shaky deep breath and tried to explain. “I-I smelt his blood a-and I b-bro-oke in-int-to h-his h-home a-and-“ Peter cut himself off, curling his body into a ball and screaming waterfalls into his knees. 

MJ couldn’t calm him down and he was too much of a mess to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Feel free to drop a comment and I’ll get back to you soon. :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in a week? I haven’t! 
> 
> This is soooo loooong. It’s probably not for you, but I usually write quick scenes, and I tried to join everything smoothly today - the chapter ended up being 3.5k words! 
> 
> TW: Peter having a suicidal episode.
> 
> Let me know what you think! :) 
> 
> This chapter gets... I don’t know how to describe it, but I hope you like it!

It was everywhere. What he’d done was everywhere.

The local new-stations and newspapers were already covering “the child assassinated in his own bed”, while Peter tried to swallow down his breakfast. The dry cereal cut his throat, and the only thing keeping him from passing out with his face in the bowl was the guilt that pulsed through his own blood. Flash had been rushed to hospital a couple of minutes after he left through the window and was stuck on life support, fighting to breath. Peter had messed up his inside organs - he had super strength for fucks sake - that’s what happens when a mutant punches someone repeatedly in the same place! What did he expect to happen? Leave him with some bruises? The whole things was nuts! He shouldn’t have been there and he shouldn’t have done it, but he’d enjoyed it. Peter _enjoyed_ it. That was why he was so scared of himself - only serial killers enjoyed killing people. He was only supposed to kill in order to protect his city, but look what happened - he was crazy!

Watching the coverage on the news made Peter throw up in the kitchen sink and Erin turned it off when she realised they’d been classmates. Poor Peter had seen too much suffering in his life, and now this? She didn’t want to make life harder for him. 

Things were worse at school.

Every corridor, every classroom, every playground, every room - gossip about Flash’s attack were explosions of dreaded noise that followed Peter around like a plague. He didn’t need this, he was already guilty before, but now he felt like he was going to fall apart at any moment. Peter couldn’t bring himself to tell his best friend, so MJ was the one who explained to Ned the truth about what happened to Flash. He was...shocked, but the two friends continued to have Peter’s back and promised to stick by him through everything. He didn’t deserve his friends. 

In the afternoon, before Academic Decathlon practice, they had an assembly for Flash and their Headmaster had prepared a speech about how he was “a fighter” and told everyone in their school that “they won’t get away with it”. Peter couldn’t stop himself from smiling because he knew he was wrong - of course he was going to get away with it. He was wearing a full body suit - they’d be no fingerprints and the blood on his hands didn’t drip through the fabric of his gloves, so there was no way he could be identified. The only person who had seen Peter was Flash and he hoped he wouldn’t return. What was the point of all this if he did? Peter had attacked him in revenge and revenge was only sweet when you won. 

_I should’ve killed him when I had the chance._

Peter gasped at his own thoughts, biting his dry lip to stop any emotion appearing on his pail face. This was crazy - he was turning into a monster!

What would his teammates think? They’d be talking about Flash all practise and he couldn’t bare to listen to them mourn, so for the first time, Peter decided not to turn up.

...

He thought an afternoon patrol would clear his thoughts, help him to calm the crazy that had tangled itself deep inside of him, but instead, it only fuelled his rage. The Avengers attacked him on the rooftops and Peter threw a fury of self defence back at them as he let out all his anger with every punch. There was six of them and it was impossible to keep up with everyone bombarding him with attacks at the same time. It was a miracle Peter managed to escape, injury Hawkeye and Falcon enough the others were compromised and he continued his patrol with some bruised rips and a burning sensation in his forehead. 

Peter knew he couldn’t keep this up. Someone was going to get hurt, including himself, and he couldn’t risk it anymore.

They say you can find out how to fix a problem if you go to the source. 

Peter would have to go to Oscorp.

He swung over the skyline, each swing faster than the one before, and sped off through the air to the building where it all began. Jumping down into an alleyway, he quickly changed out of his suit and walked up to the big gates surrounding the business. He should’ve done it a long time ago, but there he was, the first time since his eight grade field trip, going to the base of Oscorp.

Sneaking through the entrance, Peter followed a couple of workers into the main building. The ground floor was a reception of sorts that lead to many corridors filled with doors leading to offices, laboratories, storage, or something different entirely - the place was a maze of scientific research and biological storage, and if Peter didn’t have Karen, he wouldn’t have known where to start.

“Hey Karen.” He whispered, activating her on his wrist. After taking a Stark Watch from one of his victims, Peter had decided to reprogram it and use it for his AI. It was more efficient than using her in phone-mode and with all the new opportunities it brought, Peter was excited to experiment with what he could do with the technology. He just hadn’t had the time yet - not with the whole blood-thirsty episodes, the random Avenger attacks and almost killing Flash - but he promised himself he’d find time to relax and play around with the system soon.

“Already completing a full scan of the facility. I will create both 2D and 3D maps of the area and guide you to your destination.” The AI told him.

Peter smiled softly. “Thanks Kar, you’re the best.” He murmured and walked towards the receptions main exit. “We need to find the room, where I was bitten. I have to find out what the venom was designed for.” He told her.

“Take a right, then follow this corridor to the end and turn left.” The AI instructed. “These corridors are heavily guarded, so take another left at the divid and don’t stop walking at any moment.”

Peter pulled up his jacket hood as he walked past more guards. There were patrols everywhere, but if he stuck to the shadows, he hoped he could pass as one of the workers children.

“Ah, Mr Parker.” A voice behind him echoed through the corridor, sending his spider sense into a fuzzy fury. He turned around to see a tall, dark-haired man in a suit. “Boss has been expecting you.” He told him. “Follow me.” The man grinned, walking past him and heading down the corridor. 

Peter furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head to one side. Then, giving in to his curiosity, he followed the man in the suit to see his boss. They walked down a long corridor leading to an elevator and stepped inside. Tapping on the highest floor, the man shut the doors with a click and they drifted up through the building. Peter felt like he should be nervous - Mr Osborn knew who he was and was waiting for him, but at the same time, he almost felt like he was finally home. It was weird, he’d never thought of the building as a home before, but maybe it was his inner spider talking to him. This was where he was bitten, after all. Before he realised, Peter was walking into Mr Osborn’s office.

For a large room decked with wall-length windows, the office had a dark, spooky essence to it. Strong, buff guards stood in every corner of the room and Mr Osborn sat on a large black chair at the back centre. 

“Mr Parker, lovely for you to finally show up.” He smiled.

The large double doors slammed shut behind him. Still confused by the situation, Peter waited for him to continued, glancing at the boss with curiosity-filled eyes. 

“I’d given up on my spider serum so long ago, but when you came along and found it, I was amazed.” Mr Osborn exclaimed. “Of course, I had to keep tabs on you to see its process.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “You’ve been...spying on me?” He gasped, furrowing his eyebrows in both surprise and disgust.

“If you put it that way...” Mr Osborn begin, twiddling a pen from his desk in his fingers. “but I’ve only been waiting to step in at your full potential. Have you felt it yet? That feeling of loosing all control? The radioactively, serum and poison from the spiders bite mixed with your genes has created something too powerful for a young boy like you to understand. Soon enough, you will not have control over your actions. Soon enough, you will not be able to hold the urge to taste your victims blood.” He explained. Mr Osborn laughed. “You’ll be draining them dry! Maybe you’ll kill more classmates too - how fun!” He grinned, clapping his hands with “fun”. 

All Peter’s fears were coming to life at once. He’d never known what his powers were capable of, but was he even human anymore? Was if Mr Osborn was right? What if he was loosing control? Peter stepped back, his body drifting to the back of the room again.

Mr Osborn frowned. “We’re not done yet, Peter. Where are you going?” He asked, his tone scolding him like a toddler. He sighed, taking Peter’s silence as an attack. “Knock him out.” Mr Osborn commanded, using a neutral, almost bored, tone, and the six men aimed their guns at Peter’s direction. 

His spider sense burning and his breathing quickening, Peter threw an organic web in the air and stuck his body to the ceiling. Crouching, he used his webs to snatch one of the guns and used it to hit some of the guards. Then, using the ceiling for a good push off, Peter jumped down and began to attack. The men charged at him, but he dodged their movements in a sort of dance, and kicked back when they least expected it. 

Mr Osborn stood up from his desk and snuck out through the doors, giving Peter the space for a get away plan. It wasn’t the best of ideas, but he was panicking and there was no way the doors were going to reopen for him, so he had to go with his gut.

Running up the wall, Peter backflipped onto a guard and pushed him to the ground. Grabbing the gun from his belt, he whacked two guards with it before throwing it at the window, filling the room with a large smashing sound as the whole glass came crashing down. Dodging more attacks from the men, he ran at the desk, jumping onto it and using it to fly himself through the exit he’d created.

Falling from the top of one of the tallest buildings in New York wasn’t the greatest plan, but it worked. Peter threw a web at the side of a building and used it to help him fall onto a roof. For a minute or so, he laid on the tiles, trying to calm his breathing and remember what the hell just happened. 

Things had been tuff before, but this was serious. Peter was in danger - Mr Osborn wanted to use him as some sort of weapon and had been spying on him, so he could see him break and try to corrupt him. The whole thing was nuts, but, in a way, Mr Osborn was right - he was going crazy. Peter Parker wasn’t a hero - he was a danger to society.

He sat up, pulling back his sweaty curls and blowing out a large breath. 

“You still have it boss.” Karen exclaimed. 

Peter groaned as he stood up and huffed. “Yeah, well, that’s not going to help me get down from here. How high are we?” He asked his AI. 

“Only around one hundred metres from the ground sir.” Karen replied.

“I’m using the vents.” He sighed and crotched down beside the entrance. Unscrewing it with his hands, he climbed inside. “What building even is this?” He grumbled, pushing himself into the tight space.

“It appears to be an office complex.”Karen informed him. “Shall I do a scan of the venting design?” 

He coughed, trying to crawl through another gap. “Y-yes, guide me to a floor please.” Peter told her.

He didn’t have time for this. Trying to get out the building could take an hour, but at least it would distract him from the fact he was slowly turning insane and Mr Osborn _loved_ it. 

“Ok sir, take a right and there will be a hatch you can use to fall down to a storage room.” Karen announced.

“Thanks.” Peter replied, crawling through the system and getting to his exit. He unscrewed the hatch, before dropping his legs through the hole and slipping out the vent. Landing with a thump, Peter found himself standing in a maze of storage units filled to the ceiling with boxes. “Great.” He huffed. “Now what?”

“The door’s on the other side of the room sir.” Karen replied. “Take a left and then continue straight ahead.”

“What would I do without you?” Peter smiled, following her instructions to the door.

“I don’t know sir.” She answered. “But I believe you’d have another partner.”

Peter shook his head. “You’re the only AI for me, Kar - we’re a team. Let’s go home.” He exited the room, walking down the short corridor and taking the lift to the ground floor. 

Walking down the street, the sky was a sickening pitch black and the eery evening breeze felt like a snow storm. Peter gripped the ends of his sleeves and wrapped his arms around himself in a hug, but it was the kind of weather you needed to have a coat to keep warm. 

Everything had happened so fast and Peter wasn’t ready to face the consequences. How was he going to not loose his mind and what was he going to do about Mr Osborn? At the end of the day, Peter knew he was a psychopath, so what was he going to do about it? Maybe SHIELD was right - maybe he did need to be locked up or killed. Did that mean Peter had to hand himself in or did he just have to give up being Spider Man? He didn’t know if he could bring himself to give up his superhero persona, but at the same time he wasn’t really a hero, he was a villain, and he needed to be stopped. The Avengers hadn’t been good enough to stop him, but he was. Peter was the only one who could stop Peter, but what was stopping Peter? What great lengths did he have to go to to protect the world from himself?

When something is dangerous, you have to dispose of it.

Peter would have to dispose of Peter.

Walking to the bridge that Thursday evening, Peter knew what had to be done. Spider Man was a danger to society, a freak, a killer, a psycho, and now he would have to be gone. Peter knew he was doing the right thing. He had no family to live for and the only purpose he had was to protect the city. The only way he could complete that purpose was if he got rid of himself. 

Standing in the wild breeze and holding into the metal ice-cold railings, Peter knew it was it. He would have to drown to save his city. Mr Osborn was right - soon enough he wouldn’t be able to control himself anymore. This was the only way he could protect his people and the place he loved. MJ and Ned would have to understand he was doing it to protect them - they _had_ to. Peter wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if he hurt them, and this was the only way out, the only way not to. This was it.

 _Don’t be scared. You’re doing the right thing and it won’t even hurt. You’ll die a hero. It’ll be peaceful._

“You don’t want to do that kid.” A voice warned. 

_Great! Now some adult wants to play hero - you should’ve done it quicker._

“I wasn’t doing anything.” Peter told the man as he looked down at the waves. 

“Sure.” The stranger told him, rolling his eyes and walking along the path to join Peter at his side. 

He huffed, gripping harder on the railings. “You don’t understand. I’m dangerous.”

“Why do you think that?” The man asked.

“Because...because I’ve done something really bad...and I’ve done even worse things before that. I’m a danger to society and the only one who can stop me is myself.” He explained. “You have to let me do this. Please.” Peter begged.

“No matter what someone has done, death is never a punishment for their mistakes. You don’t deserve anything.” 

“You don’t know me.” Peter snapped. “You don’t know what I’ve done.”

“I don’t need to.” The stranger replied. “You’re a child. You shouldn’t do this to yourself. You’re worth so much more.” 

He sniffed, teardrops beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. “You don’t understand.” Peter repeated. “You don’t know.”

“Then tell me.”

“W-what?”

“Tell me what I don’t know.” The stranger replied, all matter of factly.

“Karen.” Peter commanded, making the stranger flinch in surprise.

“How can I help, sir?” Karen asked him. 

“You...you have an AI?” The flustered stranger asked.

“I made her last summer.” Peter smiled. 

“That’s amazing.” 

“Yeah, well, I don’t always use her for amazing things.” Peter explained. “Karen, the list please.”

“The...list?” The stranger asked.

Peter smirked. “Karen keeps a list of all the people I’ve killed.”

“Two thousand and forty seven.” The AI informed them.

“See? I told you.” He grinned. “I’m dangerous.” 

The stranger stared at him. Not in disgust, but in shock. He shook his head. “No...that’s impossible.” The man told him.

“It is impossible for me to lie.” Karen informed him. “The list is never wrong.”

“I didn’t even care when I killed them. I thought I was doing a good job.” Peter explained. “I’m not even guilty, I’m not here for them - I’m here because there’s someone spying on me right now, watching until I become even more psycho than I am already, so they can use me as their weapon. I have to die before that happens.”

The man took a deep breath, before looking at him with sincere eyes. “You’re wrong.” The stranger told him. “I know what it’s like. I know who you are. I...I was like you. I killed people and I didn’t care. I wasn’t guilty - I don’t think I even knew what guilt was. You’re a prisoner to the serum, it controls everything you—“

“How do you know about the serum?” Peter snapped, gasping in both surprise and fear.

“Because I’m just like you.”

“That’s not a good enough answer.” Peter smiled. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. 

“It’s not too late to fix your life.” The stranger told him. “This isn’t the end for you.” 

Peter sniffed. “My Uncle Ben used to say ‘with great power comes great responsibly’ but I forgot.”

“But you remember now.”

“It’s too late.” He sobbed, trying to wipe his tears away with his sleeves. “I’m too much of a monster to go back.”

“If it was too late, you wouldn’t be here. The fact you realise you’ve done the wrong thing is going to take you places. You’re a good person. You’ve just lost your path along the way. You’re going to get through this.”

“I don’t know how. I’m so scared.” 

“You don’t have to do this alone. I can help you, but only if you want my help. I can give you my number, but it’s only your choice if you want to use it. I’ll always be here if you need me, but this is your battle. Please, you have to try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter gets depressing, but I love it how Peter just yeets himself out a window. I don’t know why, but I feel like it’s very Peter Parker of him, you know?
> 
> We’re coming to the end of Part 1! What do you think will happen next?


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is 4K aka the longest chapter I’ve ever written. There’s lots of fighting, which I’m still shit at writing, but y’know what, I tried okay!! 😅 
> 
> Sorry for errors - it’s harder to check things on longer chapters. I quickly did another read-through and changed all the Principles to Principals, so, umm, yeah... that happened and they’ll probably be more mistakes like that :( 
> 
> Only one more chapter to go and then it’s ✨part 2✨!!!
> 
> And now, faithful reader, you can enjoy this chapter, but not before one of my confusing trigger warning descriptions. 
> 
> TW: Oscorp “attacking” Midtown. They don’t do much and it’s shit writing on my part (I’m English and I’ve never had a shooting/lockdown drill so I don’t know how it works), but the school goes on lockdown and they barricade doors etc.

Peter sat in in the centre of his bed, hugging a pillow between his stomach and his knees. James had wrote his number in his contacts and although he and Ned had encrypted his phone, Peter worried he would find a way to set him up. He may not have known he was Spider Man, but James still knew he was a serial killer and that was enough for him to be locked up on death row. 

With each shaky breath, Peter tried to clear his mind on what to do. If he ignored all his problems, maybe everything would be okay, but what about the blood thing? Peter would need to stay away from blood, and if he had to stay away from blood, Spider Man would have to take a vacation. What about Mr Osborn? He wouldn’t stop spying on him, until he had what he wanted, so Peter would need to find a way to get rid of him. 

Reaching for his bag at the end of the bed, Peter pulled it up to his lap and scrummaged around for his laptop. “Karen, I need your help.” Peter whispered. He logged onto his laptop and kept up the desktop.

“How can I help, sir?” She asked.

Peter paused to think, biting his lip as he tried to work out how they were going to do this. “I need you to download everything from Oscorp. We need to be able to access the main drive and have our own copy of every file. I have to have everything important to Mr Osborn and the company.” He explained.

“I’ll try sir, but it’s heavily encrypted. It may take up to half an hour.” The AI warned.

“Half an hour is fine.” Peter yawned. “Just make sure you get the files. I’m hoping we can read the file on the serum, delete all traces they have of it and send illegal shit to SHIELD, so Osborn can go to jail and no one will know about me.” He explained to his AI. Peter adjusted his laptop to balance on the pillow. “Do you think it will work?” He added, rubbing his eyes.

“I think it’s a good plan, sir.” Karen replied.

“Yeah, but will it work?” Peter repeated.

“It depends what other projects Mr Osborn has been up to. There has to be something serious if you want to make a case against him.” 

He scoffed. “Well, he’s been spying on a high school student and coming up with a radioactive version of HYDRA’s super soldier serum. If he’s done that, he must be doing worse.” Peter explained. “My original plan was to burn Oscorp to the ground, but then I’d be in even more trouble. Criminal activity and all that. It’s time for the authorities to do something. How’s the hacking going, by the way?” He asked. 

“I’m through the first walls.” Karen informed him. “But there’s a long way to go.”

“That’s okay.” Peter yawned. “Just...tell me when you’re done.” He grabbed his bag, unzipping the front pocket and taking out his phone. There were a couple of texts from his friends wondering why he wasn’t at practice, and a chain of panic from Ned. He’d seen Peter jump out the window using Karen’s footage and freaked out, so Peter sent a quick text back, telling him he’d fill him in tomorrow, and then sent the same thing to MJ.

 _They’ll think I’m crazy when I tell them I’m giving up spidey._

_No. Not giving it up. You’re having a break._

_That’s the same thing,_

“I have completed my download of all Oscorp’s data and files - sending them to you now, sir.” Karen announced.

The files popped up on his desktop and Peter clicked on them eagerly. “Thanks Kar. Can you show me the spider files?” He asked. 

A large folder opened up on his screen, full of data from experiments, a list of test subjects and their profiles, and a whole sub-folder dedicated to “Peter B Parker”. 

He was finally looking at “The Venom Project”. 

Fives years prior the field trip, Mr Osborn had constructed a team of scientists to create a super soldier serum that could take control of its users mind and manipulate their body to do its bidding. The venom had been secured in many forms, until the scientists decided they could give a subject the perfect dose of the formula if they injected the serum into a radioactive spider. However, every test subject used in the experiment never lived longer than twenty four hours after being given the dose because the spiders bite was too poisonous for the human immune system to handle. The scientists tried everything, but with no progress being made, Mr Osborn cancelled the experiment and kept the remaining spiders in storage. Originally, he had wanted the serum for an army of Super Spiders, but with the serum a failure, he decided he would have to create his vision another way. Peter had never been a part of the plan, but when he accidentally stumbled over the spiders, Mr Osborn was amazed to see the boy survived and wanted to wait to see if the venom would do its job and turn him into a mindless weapon. It hadn’t yet, but Mr Osborn could see the boy making progress and was happy to sit tight a couple more weeks before the poison finally settled in. 

Flicking through the files, Peter was learning things about his powers had never knew or noticed before. There was so much that had gone into the original serum, but his mutant genes had changed some of the programming and had created a venom more powerful than before. There was so much not even Mr Osborn or the scientists understood about how Peter’s powers worked, but they all came to the conclusion they would be able to control him in the future. 

It made Peter feel sick. 

“Kar?” He asked.

“Yes, sir?”

“Permanently delete the file “The Venom Project”off Oscorp’s main database.” Peter told her.

“Deleted.” His AI informed him. “Would you like me to search for any illegal activity?”

“Yes please, and then send it to SHIELD immediately. Make sure they can’t track the source and call me anonymous.” He replied. Peter yawned, turning off his laptop and putting it safely into his bag.

“Tired, sir?”

“Yeah. I need to go to bed. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”

...

“You’re quitting being spider man!” MJ gasped.

“It’s not like that!” Peter snapped. The three friends were outside by the fire doors, talking about what had happened, where the rest of the school couldn’t hear.

“Then what is it like because right now, it looks like you’re being selfish and would rather be a coward than protect our home!” She exclaimed.

“The Venom Project was designed to make mindless warriors! If I keep spidey up, I’ll turn insane!” Peter yelled.

“But you’re not insane! You said it yourself - the serum didn’t work as planned because you already had the mutant gene! That means you have control over your powers!” MJ argued. 

“Guys...” Ned murmured, nervously. They were never going to sort anything out if they kept screaming at each other. MJ was right - New York needed spider man, but at the same time, Peter’s health came first. If he felt like he had to take a break, they needed to believe him.

“Queens _needs_ Spider Man. You can’t do this!” She yelled. 

“I have to!” Peter snapped. “You don’t understand - I need a break!”

“But what about New York? Crime doesn’t stop!” MJ protested.

“Well, Spider Man does!” Peter argued. “You’re not the one who has to kill all the time! You’re not the one who has to fight! I need a break!” He screamed. 

“Liar! You’re a fucking liar! You don’t need a break! You’re just selfish!” She yelled back.

“Selfish?” Peter spat. “I don’t even know if I’m human anymore! I’ve never understood what the spider bite did to my body and now I’m scared for my life that I’ll loose my mind! I can’t do this anymore guys! I can’t!” He screamed. “I’m...I’m not saying I’m giving Spider Man up for good, but... I need some time to think about things, clear my head - that’s all.” 

...

“Midtown School of Science and Technology is under lockdown. Please get to a safe space, stay where you are and secure the area. I repeat - the school is under lockdown. This is not a drill. Please follow lockdown protocols and teacher instructions. This is not a drill. I repeat - this is not a drill.” 

“What’s...going on?” Betty Brant asked, glancing nervously around the long table at the rest of her teammates. It was a free period and as the librarian had left for her lunch break, the academic decathlon team, along with a couple of other students scattered around the room, were the only ones left in the library. 

“Everybody, stay calm.” A senior exclaimed, standing up from his seat. “We need to barricade the door.”

“We should hide in storage. No one would find us there.” Another student told them. 

The room was already in chaos, with students running everywhere, pushing tables, chairs and shelves around, finding hiding spots or panicking for their lives, so the trio used it as a distraction and hid behind a bookcase for some privacy.

“Karen, what’s going on?” MJ asked the AI, her tone quiet and sharp with confusion and fear.

“Six minutes ago, I detected three vans driving up to the school gates. Sixteen armed men have broken into the school, along with their superior. I believe they’ve been sent by Mr Osborn after he was arrested.” Karen explained from Peter’s watch. 

Peter frowned, his face a painting that captured pure fright. “I’ve...done this. They’re after me!” He gasped.

MJ furrowed her eyebrows. “I can’t believe this.”She murmured.

“What are we going to do?” Ned panicked. “You don’t have your suit! We’re not ready! We-we’ve never planned for something like this!”

“Forget about the suit. Our school’s under attack - we have to do something! We’re team Queens, the web warriors - this is our battle , so let’s go kick some ass!” MJ told him.

“We need to get to lab two.” Peter exclaimed. “Before I had my suit, I used clip on shooters and Ned and I stored most of the old versions there. My web formulas should still work and we can all use them to fight.” He explained.

“So you will be spider man?” MJ huffed, crossing her arms.

“What happened to team spirit? We don’t have time for this - our schools under attack because Oscorp wants to capture me and turn me into their weapon - we have to go to lab two and get ready for battle!” Peter snapped.

“Fine, I agree. Let’s go.” MJ replied, giving in.

“But how are we going to get there?” Ned asked them. “Lab two isn’t even on the same floor as us and we’re barricaded in.” 

“Look up.” Peter told him.

“We’re...using the vents?” Ned asked.

Peter nodded and walked further down the isle of books. He grabbed onto a shelf, pulling himself up onto the bookcase and using the shelves as ladder steps. 

“I-I don’t know about this.” Ned murmured, glancing at his friend. 

“We’re a team. We have to go with him.” MJ told him and walked up to the shelves, pulling herself up after Peter. Ned followed.

Reaching the top of the bookcase, Peter punched open the vent and pushed himself inside. MJ helped Ned up to the top and they hurried after him. The three friends crawled through the vent, following the only path.

“Karen, can you do a scan of the school and tell us where the men are?” Peter asked his AI.

“There are four units of three patrolling different corridors of the school. The rest of the men are in the cafeteria with the superior.” Karen replied.

“Please say there’s no casualties.”Ned murmured.

“No staff or students from MSST have been injured or killed by the intruders.” She reported.

The three friends let out sighs of relief.

“We need to get out of here.” Peter told them. He reached an opening and unscrewed the hatch, creating their escape hole. “I’ve had some practise.” He pushed his legs through and jumped down, landing on the floor with bent knees.

“Hey, Peter, that gaps a little too high.”Ned called down to him.

Peter sighed. “Don’t be ridiculous - just jump down.” He replied.

MJ reached the hole, twisting herself into the gap and dropping down. “It’s not that hard, Ned.” She called up to him. “Trust yourself!”

“O-okay.” He replied, crawling towards the gap and dangling his legs through.

“You can do it Ned.” Peter encouraged and he jumped down.

“See. That wasn’t hard.” MJ told him.

“We need to go.” Peter said, his spider sense getting more aggravated with every second. “Now.” 

“That’s the boy!” A voice declared. 

The friends gasped, turning around to see three of the men.

“Don’t shoot.” One of them snapped. “Boss wants him alive.”

“Get them!” The first one commanded.

“Get behind me!” Peter yelled, approaching the intruders. He blocked the first attack, rolling to the floor and getting through to the other side. He kicked one of them to the ground and did his signature wall backflip to wipe the second man out. “MJ, watch out!” He screamed.

She picked up the metal vent hatch and used it like a tennis racket to whack the last man. He stumbled back and Peter used his organic webs to tie him up and stick him to to the ceiling.

“Go.” Peter yelped and they ran down the corridor, passing locked classrooms and rushing down the stairs. 

They sped into Lab two and MJ immediately locked the door. With Ned’s help, she pushed a cabinet along the floor and grabbed a couple of chairs to barricade it. Peter rushed to the back of the classroom and fell to his knees. Rummaging through his bag, he grabbed a key and used it to unlock a locker. 

“Are they there?” MJ asked him.

“Yep.” Peter replied, taking out a bag. He stood up and the three of them walked over to a table, putting the bag down on it. “This is all my fault. I lead them here and now they could seriously hurt someone.” Peter sighed.

“It’s not right. You did nothing wrong.” She told him. “I’m sorry I overreacted earlier. It wasn’t fair on you. If you want to quit being spider man-“

“You didn’t overreact. Not at all.”Peter reassured her. “And it’s not like I can quit now - I have our school to save, but I can’t do it alone.”He told them.

“You don’t have to.” MJ replied, squeezing his hand. “We’re a team. Let’s finish it together.”

“Yeah, bro. We started together, and we’ll end together. We’ll show them they can’t just come to our school without a fight.” 

“Thanks guys.” Peter smiled, before taking his old web shooters out the bag. He pulled up his sleeves, clipping one on each of his wrists and then grabbed two other pairs, giving them to his friends. “You’re going to need this.” He told them. Then, he walked back to the locker and took out a bag of formula cartridges. Taking one electric web cartridge and one sticky web cartridge for himself, Peter handed MJ and Ned both an electric and a classic. “Ned, stay here and be on cams. MJ, you’re coming with me.” Peter commanded.

“I get to fight.”She beamed.

Peter nodded.

“Yes!” She cheered. “Let’s go!”

“Stay here. We can use Karen to communicate.” Peter told Ned. “Only use the webs if they break in. If all else fails, escape through the vents or get Karen to turn on the water sprinklers.” 

“Oh-okay.” Ned replied, nervous to be left on his own, as he watched his friends climb onto a desk and use the vents to exit the room. “B-bye I guess?”

...

Peter dropped down from the vents, landing on one of the intruders and sending him crashing to the floor. The two others aimed their guns at him, but Peter grabbed them with his organic webs and threw them down the corridor. The men charged at him, but Peter blocked all their attacks, kicking them both at the wall in a number of seconds. “It’s safe!” He called, giving the queue for MJ to jump out of the vents.

“Guys, we have a problem.” Ned told them, coming through Peter’s watch.

“What is it?” MJ asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“They have our Principal.” Ned told them.

“What?” They gasped, looking at each other with surprise.

“Yeah, the superior man has him all tied up and guarded in the cafeteria. I think he’s trying to get him to tell him where Peter is ‘cause he keeps talking about a boy.” Ned explained.

“We have to go.” Peter told her.

They raced down the corridor, turning the corner, rushing down to the cafeteria and then hiding behind a wall.

_”Ah, Mr Parker, Boss has been expecting you. Follow me.”_

“It’s him.” Peter whispered. 

“Who?” MJ asked.

“The man who recognised me at Oscorp, he’s the superior, that’s him.” He replied. The man was protected by the guards at the back and their principal was tied up to his right. 

_”Have you felt it yet? That feeling of loosing all control?”_

_“I’m a mutant. A monster. I kill people, Ned.”_

_“Soon enough, you will not have control over your actions.”_

_“I just...when he...When Flash says all those things to me, when he bashes my family or makes fun of me and my situation, it takes everything I have not to reveal my powers and rip his head off.”_

_“Because...because I’ve done something really bad...and I’ve done even worse things before that. I’m a danger to society and the only one who can stop me is myself.”_

_“Soon enough, you will not be able to hold the urge to taste your victims blood. You’ll be draining them dry! Maybe you’ll kill more classmates too.”_

_“What do you get from this? What’s the point? Is killing fun for you?”_

_“I-I’ve d-done some-someth-thing r-r-really b-ba-bad.”_

_“You don’t understand. I’m dangerous.”_

“It’s okay.” She told him, grabbing his hand and snapping it out of him. “We’ve got this.” 

“But...but what if...”Peter murmured, biting his lip.

“What?” She asked.

“What if I loose control and attack you?”

“You’d never attack me. Take a deep breath, PJ’s - we can do this. You need to believe in yourself. You’re Spider Man. Don’t think about anything but saving out school.” MJ dragged him along and they stood at the entrance. “Hey assholes!” She called, getting everyone’s attention. “Who’s ready to be beaten by two high school freshman?”

The superior smirked. “So the little spiders brought his girlfriend along - how cute is that? Get them both. Now.”

Two men charged at them but MJ avoided their punches and lined up the men, so Peter could get ready in position. He kicked one of the men so hard that he stumbled back into the other, knocking both of them into the tables.

Four more intruders rushed to the scene and tried to surround them, but as they got closer, the two teens used their electric webs to knock them out. 

“Is that all you’ve got?” MJ smirked.

...

“I know you’re in there!” A voice boomed. 

Ned crouched down behind the desks, hugging his knees to his chest as he heard the men trying to bash open the door. A gun shot ran out around them and Ned could only assume they’d shot the lock to get it open. Taking a deep breath, he held a hand to his mouth as an almighty crash filled the room and the men climbed over the items they’d used to block the door. 

“Come out, boy.” The man cooed, viciously.

Shaking, Ned bit his lip and got into position. He jumped out from behind the desk, shooting the two men with electric webs. After calming down his breathing, Ned turned off his laptop, hurriedly packed up his things into his rucksack and ran out the room.

...

“Do something!” The superior snapped at the last two men. They stayed in their position to protect him and the Principal, but approached the teens as they walked closer towards them. 

The men tried to shoot at them, but MJ ducked to the floor and Peter used his webs to stick the guns to the ceiling. MJ jumped up and kicked a man in the dick and Peter grabbed the other one by the arm and swung him at the tables. He crashed into the furniture, banging his head on one of the chairs.

“Impressive.” The superior smiled. “But you could do so much more with your powers if you came back to Oscorp with me. You will do amazing things, Peter.”

“You’re out of your mind if you think he’d go with you.” MJ snapped.

“Ah, but you’re wrong.” The superior told her. “Oscorp is your friends home. He will come back eventually, and so will you, my dear. We could give you powers too, give you everything you could ever want. Spider Man and Spider Girl - loved by many, but feared by all. The best defenders of New York, putting The Avengers to shame.” 

“I’d never work with you. I’m not your weapon. You can’t lock me up and take me away.” Peter told him.

The man opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, he yelled in pain as the electric shock pulsed through his body and threw him onto the floor.

Peter and MJ turned around. 

Ned stood at the entrance, his arm still aimed out at the man. He let out a deep breath, dropping his arm down to his side and walking up to his friends. “Looked like you needed help. Does that guy stop talking? He’s a nightmare.” He told them.

“Yeah, he’s a right ass.” MJ smiled. 

“We did it.” Peter smiled. “We actually did it. You were right - I shouldn’t give up Spider Man. I’m can’t promise I’ll be always be around to save the day, but I’m glad I’ve got you guys as a team because I know, whatever happens, we’ll always be able to save the day.”

“All hands in?” She asked.

The three friends put their hands in a pile and lifted them in the air. “Web warriors!” They cheered. 

“Well done team, but I believe you’re forgetting something.” Karen told them.

“Our Principal!” The three gasped and rushed over to him.

Ned and MJ untied him from the chair and Peter undid his gap.

“Sir, are you okay?” MJ asked him.

“Not too good, but a lot better thanks to you three. That was amazing.” He told them.

“I’m really sorry sir. Please don’t tell anyone.” Peter begged.

“Tell that you’re Spider Man? Of course not! You’re a star pupil, Peter, and a treasure to the school. You receive the highest grades in your classes, always hand your homework in on time and know more about your subjects than the professors teaching them. It would be a crime to waste your talent. Today, you and your friends saved our school. I don’t see why you should be punished.” 

“Thank you sir!” Peter smiled, sighing in relief.

Their Principal stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get someone to tidy up our school and let everyone know it’s safe to go home. I hope you all take time to rest and have a lovely weekend.” He told them.

“We will.” MJ smiled. 

“Thanks sir.” Ned added.

“Thank you for saving the school.” The Principal smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the chapter :)
> 
> Also...I know I only briefly mentioned Bucky, but he comes back at the end of Chapter 8 and will be a main character in Part 2.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. This is my first time posting one of my fics in the marvel fandom. Let me know what you think. Constructive criticism and ideas are appreciated. I hope you like it.


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